Construction work begins on the terraces of the reconstructed Crystal Palace exhibition hall at Sydenham Hill. The building was originally designed by Joseph Paxton to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, which attracted more than six million visitors to a showcase of the century's technological achievements. The prefabricated building was dismantled after six months and rebuilt in south-east London. Photographer P H Delamotte recorded the rebuilding of Crystal Palace in the new location until it was opened by Queen Victoria on 10 June 1854.